SPRINGFIELD — It was time for the annual St. Patrick’s Party sponsored by Hampden County Register of Deeds Donald E. Ashe on Tuesday, and corned beef was in the air.

Literally, for outside the John Boyle O’Reilly Club, the moist air from the afternoon rain was causing fumes from the kitchen exhaust vent to linger close to earth and making a walk across the parking lot an olfactory sensation.

For going on 30 years, Ashe’ s St. Patrick’s Party has been a staple of the social calendar, just as the corned beef sandwiches have been a staple of the menu.

“They don’t come to see me, they come for the corned beef,” Ashe said. “We got a lot of it.”

The annual party has a dual purpose, he said.

One is to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and to pay tribute to the many people in the Springfield area who are of Irish decent.

The second, Ashe said, “is to keep my political friends together.”

Over corned beef sandwiches, Irish soda bread and beer, politicians and members of the public dined, drank and got reacquainted. For those who are planning to be on the ballot in the fall, it is never too early to be out shaking hands.

The party has come to be seen as the unofficial start of the campaign season, and over the years has attracted some candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor, Ashe said.

As in previous years, the event was expecting as many as 300 people to make it, although Ashe, glancing around the room to gauge the crowd in the first hour, said he was not sure if that many would show.

The heavy rain would keep some away, Ashe said. Several people greeting Ashe at the door commented on how bad the roads were as they shook the rain off their coats.

Another complication was that the night of the event had to be moved. Traditionally, it is held on the Wednesday before St. Patrick’s Day, but this year, the John Boyle booked a concert by the Irish musical group The Wolfe Tones.

Rescheduling was the only choice, and as late as Tuesday afternoon, Ashe’s staff was not altogether certain if they had notified all the expected guests about the switch, he said.